


Eye of the Storm

by sudaki



Category: The Cycle of Arawn - Edward W. Robertson
Genre: Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25108942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sudaki/pseuds/sudaki
Summary: Just a liiiittle missing scene from What Lies Beyond.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	Eye of the Storm

Even as he draws near, he can't make out her face through the snow. She waits for him, beckons for him to follow. He stumbles on. He can't see where he's going. A gust of icy wind blows a flurry of white flakes into his face, blinding him entirely. His boot catches on a rock hidden under a drift and he lurches forward.

She catches him.

"Right here. This way." She's shouting right next to his ear, but it's still barely audible through the roar of the storm. She half-leads, half-drags him into the hidden cave. 

Blays tries to stand up straight and smacks his head on the ceiling. He sits down instead, propping his back against the rough stone wall. "Dante," he says, rubbing the rime from around his eyes, "I think he's still –"

Then he stops. He's pretty sure his heart stops. Lira is crouched right in front of him, just inches away. "You," Blays says, and that's as much as he can manage before he crushes her to him, burying his face in the crook of her neck. He can smell her, feel the snow melting into her hair.

"Me," she says, and he feels the word vibrate in her skin, too. 

Blays pulls back just enough to see her face again. He cups her jaw in his hand, running his thumb over her cheek. She's flushed from the cold. "What are you doing here?"

She scoffs. " _I've_ been here all along. Took you long enough to think of looking."

"I –" Blays shakes his head, "I guess if anybody would've found a way here…. Tell me all about it later, okay?" He can't resist kissing her, hard and fierce. She doesn't seem to mind, one of her hands coming up to hold the back of his neck. After only a minute, though, he pulls away. _"Soon._ Real soon." Blays steals another kiss, then shifts to head back toward the cave entrance. "As soon as we find Dante."

"You can't go back out there," Lira says, taking a firm hold of his arm, "It's too late." And it's true; Blays hears with sinking heart how the howl of the wind has grown louder outside. He can't make out anything beyond the mouth of the cave except solid whiteness, like they're somewhere in the middle of a cloud. 

"He was right behind me," he insists, trying to pull away. "You know your way around here, right? I'm sure if we both ––"

"I do know my way. That's why I'm telling you. It's too late."

Blays moves away from her anyway, though it's the hardest thing he's ever done. Just crouching in the mouth of the cave, he can feel the temperature outside has dropped. When he leans out, the driving snow feels like needles on his face. He recoils instinctively, shivering. 

Lira puts a hand on his shoulder, urging him back inside. "I'm sorry," she says, then: "We'll go look for him when the storm's passed." 

Blays takes a deep, shuddering breath. He turns back to Lira, winds his arms around her, and presses his face into her shoulder again, closing his eyes. He knows that not even Dante could survive out there for more than a few minutes. He knows that she knows it, too.

And he knows that, regardless, Lira would never leave Dante for dead. Any more than he would himself.

Secure in that knowledge, he pushes it to the back of his mind and breathes in Lira's scent, runs his icy fingers through her hair. He feels her breath against his ear. 

Blays knows. 

They'll find a way out of this, he and Dante. Save the world. Not even a shadow of doubt. This isn't the end for either of them.

But surely he's come far enough, endured enough, to deserve just a _little_ rest. Just a few minutes. Just a little more. He can feel the warmth spreading through him now as he holds Lira close, from her body to his, the only thing still moving in the world.


End file.
